Gravity conveyer section



Ubll'i', VUB J. J. MUI-AUUHl-lll GRAVITY coNvEYER SECTION 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 14, 1947 Gttorneg Oct. 14, 1952 J. J. MCLAUGHLIN 2,613,789

GRAVITY CONVEYER SECTION Filed Jan. 14, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 nveutor Bl C I Gttorneg Oct. 14, 1952 J. .1. MCLAUGHLIN 2,613,789

GRAVITY CONVEYER SECTION Filed Jan. 14, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 vv "z" l Ja l z/Um Bl Q Gttorneg Patented Oct. 14, 1,952

GRAVITY CONVEYER SECTION' JohnV J. McLaughlin.'Philadelphia, Pa., assigner toiThe Wilk-ie Companmllhiladelphia, Pa.

" Appl'ieadmranuaryii, 1947,*seriai No. 7271.909*

Myinvention relates to conveyor' systemsand deals particularly with an improved gravityconveyor section. y w

MGravity conveyor sections have been widely used in factories "and inwarehouses in comune-'-v tion `with powered conveyor belts. Their applications include the loading andv unloading of trucks-and railway cars,. the routing of lpackaged goods to and from storage areas, and. the. routing f ofA articles within a manufacturing-process.

. .Y When used in conjunction. with powered conveyor belts'. in the. applications cited above, thev ordinaryl gravityr conveyor section is deficient in several respects. The section has no provision for transferring goods onto or from the conveyor belt,` and it has. been necessary to station a man atv the juncture of the. conveyor section and the conveyor belt for this purpose. The sections, furthermore, are of'aiixed length.

An object of my invention iszto provide amobile v lineldirectlyto avehicleor-a storage area, orin theopposite-direction..

Another object` of my. .invention is toA provide a mobile conveyor section and diverter, whereby new conveyor routes may be rapidly improvised within a factory, as when va manufacturing process'is being developed or altered.

Other objects of my invention are to provide an improved' device of the character described, that is easily and economically produced, which is sturdy in construction, and which is highly efficient in operation.

With the above and related objects in view, my invention consists in the details of construction and combination of parts, as will be more fully understood from the following description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of an embodiment of my invention arranged to divert goods away from a point on a powered conveyor line.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary top view of an embodiment of my invention wherein the diverteris arranged to sidetrackmat'erials coming from a direction opposite to that of Fig. 1. y,

Fig. 3 is a top View of anembodiment of my gravity conveyor section arranged to relay. goods from the end of a powered conveyor to vafplat form or truck.v .l I .Figiy .eiY is a. side elevation view of one'e'mbodi@ ment of my invention. e

Fig. 5 isa fragmentarytop view of the conveyor section of Fig. 3 arranged vto relay goodsfinwa directionopposite to thatof Fig. 3;

Figy is a side elevation of an'extensible gravity conveyor in extended position. Fig. '7 is an end view of the extensible'v gravity' conveyor section illustrated in-Fig. 6thesectionV being in its contracted position. -f g Fig. 8 is an end view of the preferred construce' tion of my extensible conveyor. Fig. 9 is a fragmentary side view of theextenfV sibleconveyor of Fig. 8. Referring now in greater detail'tothe drawings wherein similar referencer characters refer .to similar parts, I show a n'iobile'gravityv diverter and conveyorsection, generallydesignated as A.-

The section comprises arbed and frameB; the

supports C and a diverter D. Y

The bed D consists of a pair of parallel frameample, in the application shown in Fig. `l, where the section is-used to divert packages from acon-v, veyor beltonto aplatformor, truclethe diverterv end is raised until the tops of the casters I8 are level with the conveyor belt, `which is generally designated as E. The other end ofthe section B is lowered below the level of the diverter end so that the packages will move by gravity to their destination. The telescopic supports C consist of a vertically extending pipe or' rod 20, the upper end of `which is secured to the frame members l0 and IGA. The lower end slides within another pipe 22, and can be locked at any desired height by the handscrew 24 threaded into the wall of the outer pipe 22.

The lower ends of the supports are provided with wheels 26 making the section easy to move about as desired.

oF 1f. l.

' member D.

A number of holes 35 are provided in the uprights so that the diverter may be supported at various heights above the bed depending on the size of the packages which are being conveyed'.

Inorder to adapt the diverter for a conveyor belt traveling in an opposite direction, shown in Fig. 2, the uprights are transferred to the other side of the section and the diverter is boltedto the opposite side of the uprights.

Since either end of the section can be elevated. it is apparent that the section can be used to deliver goods to the powered conveyor belt, as Well as to remove goods from the belt.

.In Aa modificationvofmy invention, shown in Figs. 6 vand 7, the bed is. made extensible, so that its length may be increased several times. This enables my conveyor section to be extended to the exact distance between say, a conveyor belt and a truck bed, and reduces manual labor to a minimum.

In the modiiication, BIv is the main bed along which a pair of other beds is slidable. Also, in the pair, B3 is slidable along the other bed, B2. To increase the length of the conveyor section, the pair B2 and B3 is extended, to further increase the length, section B3 is extended from B2. The sections B2 and B3 possess leg supports only at their forward ends, the other ends being already contained and supported. Stops are provided at these other ends to prevent the sections from becoming separated. The extensible gravity sectionmay be used with or without the deflector as desired, it being a simple matter to assemble or remove the deector.

A preferred construction of my extensible conveyor is illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9. Here al1 of the sections are of approximatelythe same Width. The' side channel members 40 of the alternate sections Sl-and'S3 have their open sides 40A on the exterior, forming outwardly-extending ledges 40B.v Y

The intermediate section S2 is made with its side channels 4| reversed, so as to provide inwardly-extending ledges 41B and 4|C. The ledges v4IB of section S2 overlie the ledge 411B of the top section, so that in eect the section S2 hangs from the top section. Similarly, the ledges 40B of the lowest section ,S3 overlie theledges 4|C of theA middlesection S2,4 so that the lowest section depends from the middle section,

An additional channel member 44 is attached to the insides of the intermediate section channels 4| and serves to prevent the conveyor sections from separating accidentally.

The deflector end of the top section SI is provided with legs 22 similar to those of Fig. 6.

The free ends of the lower sections S2 and S3 have telescopic hinged legs 46 Which foldl along the sides of the sections When not in use.

Although I have shownva conveyor consisting only of three sections, it is obvious that the conveyor can be made with additional sections in the same manner.

Although my invention has been described in considerable detail, such description is intended as being illustrative rather than limiting, since the invention may be variously embodied, and the scope of the invention is to be determined as claimed.

I claim as my invention:

In an extensible gravity conveyor, a `plurality of telescopic conveyor sections, one being the main conveyor and the other a telescopic section, each section comprising side frame channel members, rotatable Wheels carried by cross-members between said channel members, said channel members of one section being oppositely disposed land intertting with the channel section of its adjacent section whereby the sections may be telescoped to any desired length, aange of one side section lying upon the ange of said other section,

the upper ange of the lowermost section being above and in engagement with the lowermost flange of the upper section, and the lowermost section being solely supported by said iiange of the upper section both when collapsed and when in open position, ground elevating means at each end of the main conveyor section, and ground elevating means at only one end of said telescopic conveyor section.

JOHN J. MCLAUGHLIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS France Dec. 16, 1920l 

